History of the Realm

The History of the Realm is a comprehensive infographic that serves as an era-by-era timeline of the in-game universe and many of the various events that occured within it, from the universe’s creation to the present day (as of its release on July 23, 2021). Below is a paraphrased, chronologically ordered rendition of all the events showcased in the infographic, along with relevant links for specific references.

Note that specific time frames or numerical time references for most of these events are not given, and that not all events may be covered.

A link to the infographic can be found here.

Creation

At the beginning, there are the cubes. The most fundamental unit of nature itself. Cubes make reality and are found at the (square) root of all physics, conforming the Rubix puzzle that is existence itself.
The Machine is set into operation.
The “fundamental core” appears from the nothingness, and from it, a nebula of nightmatter starts slowly giving form to the stars; eventually, entire systems are formed. Sometime later, the Realms are born.
In the Void dimension, the intense concentrations of Corruption awaken a consciousness. It is the Void Entity, and the only purpose for its existence is to bring destruction.

The Forgotten Era

The early Realms are inhabited by Gods (which would still be made of cubes, of course). Other long-forgotten Realms out of the mortal plane thrive, like the Angelic Realms. They build fantastic cities and breathtaking environments, and they use enchantments in their crafts. The portal to their Realm is protected by powerful guardian seraphs, which repel invasions for a long time, and it is even said that an enormous pillar of a divine-imbued material sustains the structure of the Realm itself.
In our Realm, early civilizations start populating the land and the seas. Gods walk alongside mortals, and many other creatures like the aes sidhe with them.
Limon, the mother of all sprites, is born around this time.
The Realm Eye is born.
Malphas, a celebrated stonemason of the angelic realms, is discovered imbuing impure charms in his work, and exiled to the Realm’s volcanic mountains.
Skuld, the master of the afterlife, starts roaming the Realm, dealing with the souls of the dead and judging them.
As civilizations rise and become more sophisticated, they start traveling the seas. The naval warfare seriously hurts the underwater Realm, which has to retreat and will be from then permanently scared of surface inhabitants.
The mysterious subterranean Mushroom tribe find the Crystal Entity deeply ingrained in the Realm’s mantle. They start worshiping it and begin a pacifistic existence thanks to it that will last for many centuries.
A strange civilization builds the artifact statue later known as El Dorado, and places it in what today is known as the Secluded Thicket.
Malphas starts building a den within the deepest fissures of the volcanoes he was exiled to, and the Abyss of Demons is born. Many minor demons are created or flock there from other planes, and they start working on the volcanic agate found in the depths of volcanic regions.
All the elementals of the Realm erupt into a fearsome war for control of the material plane of the Realm, with an inconclusive result. In the end, the land is chaotically populated by the new races like humans, elves, hobbits and such. Some start fighting others, and some others try to strive for peace. As a result of all the meddling, the Sprite World itself becomes very unstable, and even Limon, due to great affection to her own homeland, spends most of her power into maintaining it as stable as possible for their folk.

The Great Ice Age

The Realm starts the Great Ice Age. Many tribes flock and congregate.
Esben, the shaman of a tribe living in the frozen lands, gets lost in the Ice Cave. He tried summoning a dark spirit, but unknowingly opens his body to the Void Entity’s influence, which partially possesses him.
Shaitan gets his position as the king of the fire djinni. He installs his lair close to the Realm’s core, where even demons find it unbearable.
The giant crab civilization expands their influence over their territories on the Eastern lands.
Temperature stabilizes in the Realm and becomes warmer. The Great Ice Age finishes, and the early societies that fought for survival start exploring the world again, now as civilizations. Some of them remain in the frozen regions, that would later be renamed as the Lost Lands.

The Old Gods Era

Mixcoatl the Masked God, his son Xolotl and his brother, who had been traveling together, part ways. Mixcoatl ends up in the Forbidden Jungle, which later would be visited by tribesmen who will start referring to him as the God of the Hunt.
Xolotl the God of Lightning also finds his own tribe of followers and they start living in a very remote and isolated jungle, the Secluded Thicket. They discover El Dorado and build a temple around it.
Mixcoatl’s brother just wanders off the seas to an unknown destiny.
Nut, Geb and Bes are revered as the most important gods of the time. Bes protects the innocent and rules over war, Geb reigns over the earth, and Nut controls the skies. From time to time, they send their vassal, the Grand Sphinx, to the Realm to ask for tribute.
For a brief time, the Commander-Lord Carosburg, a mere mortal, manages to unify all civilized lands under his command. He even gets to assert control over the demonic territories, which briefly serve him as vassals. However, after his death, his control over territories crumble apart instantly.
A human tribe inhabiting the Magic Woods forfeit their own humanity and conscience and get transformed into immortal fairies. These folks are different from the aes sidhe, which are now rarely seen roaming the realm.
A shrine in a faraway desert collapses and all its inhabitants die, due to some strange ritual involving crude spirit magic.
In the Eastern lands, a divine entity descends from another plane. She adopts the form of a maiden and presents the tribes a gift: the Kusanagi. The bond is so strong with the item that many of the tribes would use it as an icon for their own civilizations.
Malphas forges four dragon statues, infusing them with his impure chants. The leftover stone is used to create the Rock Dragon.
People all over the start the tradition of bringing bodies of valiant fallen heroes to an enclosed cemetery to avoid desecration by theives. Eventually, such powerful souls attract Skuld, who recruits helpers and imposes a judgement on them, sending them off to different destinies depending on the situation. Either Malphas the Archdemon would accept them and transform them into demons, or a few centuries later Septavius the Ghost God would take over them and incorporate them into his undead army.
The traditions start decaying in favor of younger gods, and the god trio Nut, Geb, and Bes become wrathful. Their former acolytes perform rituals that seal and keep them trapped in time.

The Prosperity Era

Sages all around the Realm decide to build a sanctuary for the Realm Eye in order to store his imparted knowledge, and it soon becomes the most impressive library the Realm has ever seen: the Athenum. It quickly develops as a revered place which all civilizations learn to protect and use in their pursuit of knowledge.
The Shattered Kingdom, now known with a different name, is born as a city-state in an island separate from the mainland.
Gigacorns become famous as the steed of choice for military generals. Their hunting by barbarians becomes an increasing concern.
The samurai clans of the Eastern lands meet the giant crab civilization, and hostilities arise. The samurai end up inflicting heavy losses to the crabs, so they have to retreat.
The Paladins establish a church in the Realm and consecrate themselves as the guardians of purity and light.
An unknown empire collapses under the sword of an unidentified enemy, and they build a chapel destined to keep the bodies of the soldiers slain. Septavius, the most proficient and courageous of them all, prevails over death and transcends as a very powerful spirit. Over the ruins of the empire, he raises the fallen soldiers as skeletons for his undead army.
The Candylands are discovered suddenly. Their inhabitants, the Rototos, as well as the strangeness of the event itself, make people very cautious of this dimension and many superstitions start circulating, which render them rarely visited.
The to-be Forgotten King inherits the throne of the Shattered Kingdom, the city-state separated from the Realm’s main continent/ Small as it is, he leads his kingdom to become one of the most solid military and economic powers in the Realm.
The Archons, a group of magistrates dedicated to pursuing rightful usage of magic, are founded and start their activity in several nations.
The to-be Forgotten King, while acclaimed by his people and feared by his enemies, starts assembling an insanely powerful elite force, the Royal Army.
The Blacksmith is seen from time to time and place to place, always asking about the most impressive artifacts, weapons, and blacksmithing techniques. She is always seen taking frantic notes with extreme interest.
The Glitch suffers a major malfunction caused by an unknown entity.
The pirate clan roam the sea and start an era of adventure, plundering, and swashbuckling. The underwater folk, led by Thessal the Mermaid Goddess, are particularly terrified of them.

Oryx the Knight

Oryx is born in the Shattered Kingdom.
An archmage invents a method to channel magical force in a way that defies the very laws of magic itself. Upon discovery by the Blacksmith, she brings it to certain Gods’ attention, who decide to condemn the archmage, forcing him into exile.
Leucoryx rises to the leadership position of a cult of demonic worship.
Oryx somehow reaches the Lair of Shaitan, where its sadistic overlord enjoys torturing mortals and demons alike. Shaitan is unexpectedly defeated by a young Oryx. Absolutely stunned, Shaitan dedicates himself to serving him from the shadows, and foresees the to-be Mad God’s destiny.
Avalon the Archivist is appointed as the director of the great Athenum. The enormous library is the most important hub for sages, researchers, and philosophers of the Realm.
Oryx starts his career as gladiator and makes friends with Beisa, another gladiator from the Shattered Kingdom. They frequently spar together.
Researchers find that under the Realm, due to the countless spells casted by magic practitioners, the earth accumulates an excessive amount of magic. A magic drainage system is built under the earth. It will become known as the Sewers.
Oryx becomes famous in the entire Realm as a celebrated gladiator. He then starts to work as a mercenary all around the Realm. He gains fame and power at an incredible speed.
Oryx meets Lord Ruthven, a powerful adept of the dark arts. Oryx defeats him without killing him, due to his own boastful nature and Ruthven’s cunning mind.
Oryx meets Limon, and begrudgingly acknowledges her power. He somehow agrees to respecting nature up to a certain extent, though he would take many liberties with this oath in the years to come.
Dreadstump and Davy Jones become rivals as they both try to fight up the ladder within the Pirate Clan to become the next Pirate King. Davy Jones even gets to steal ships and crew from the Royal Navy of the Shattered Kingdom.
Around this time, Oryx develops a mysterious phobia of chickens due to a non-disclosed event. Of course, he thinks everyone in the Realm has the same fear too.
Oryx and Davy Jones become rivals. Dreadstump takes the opportunity and becomes the Pirate King, befriending Oryx as they both share an undying love for booze.
Oryx kills the demon worshiped by Leucoryx’s cult. Leucoryx takes this as a divine sign and bows to him.

The Rise of Oryx

Oryx becomes afraid of losing his status and is by now faithfully revered around all the Realm. He declares open war on all who oppose him and claims to make the Realm his own.
Oryx starts gathering allies and sends spies all over the Realm.
The Grand Sphinx, for eons idle without her old masters, vows obedience to Oryx.
Beisa is given the title of Chief and given command of all of Oryx’s military forces, as well as tasked with the training of his most elite soldiers.
Dammah, previously a powerful politician, convinces Oryx to appoint him as the new Chancellor, and is ordered to the organization and direction of the Mad God’s politics.
Davy Jones meets a blacksmith while travelling the Eastern lands. They become friends as she laughs at his fleet’s oversized and totally unbalanced cannons, which the pirate refuses to change.
Dreadstump the Pirate King is appointed as Oryx’s tax collector. As a tax, Oryx considered liquors and booze to be his payments. Dreadstump indulges and starts throwing decadent parties that last for weeks.
Oryx asks for Lord Ruthven’s assistance and Shaitan’s guidance. Ruthven starts preparing a powerful curse.
The Realm’s holy paladins reject the growing influence of the Mad God. Oryx’s spies manage to trick them into a trap, which converts them into mere floating eyes. Only a few of them avoid the trap. The plan plays out so spectacularly well that Oryx tries to replicate it again at other occasions.
Arachna, a famous maiden with an unrivaled skill at weaving, is challenged by Oryx to make a tapestry. To hide his incompetence, he transmogrifies her into a spider monster.
Jon Bilgewater, a fiery pirate also coming from the Pirate Clan, becomes the new Pirate King as Davy Jones was far away in the Eastern lands and Dreadstump had become more and more decadent. He starts using the Deadwater Docks to illegally smuggle alcohol (Oryx’s “taxes”) between the mainland and the Shattered Kingdom. This continues for quite some time.
Oryx attacks the Athenum alongside Lord Ruthven, who surprises the Archivist by activating the Corruption Phantom. The curse is so powerful that it corrupts the entire location, transforming it into the Cursed Library.
The Nexus is created by the heroes, in a space between realms. Their kind escapes to the Nexus; other civilizations living in the Realm choose between escape or surrender to Oryx’s rule.

The Nexus Schism

Oryx crowns himself as lord of the entire Realm.
A never seen “inflection” point is reached in the history of the Realm. The blessing of heroes, which could help them be brought back to life, is reversed and it becomes the curse known as perma-death, while all of Oryx’s vassals receive the blessing of infinite opportunities in infinite instances of the realm.
Oryx starts being called the Mad God by all the heroes, who now inhabit the Nexus.
Craig the sprite leaves the Sprite World to find a new life. He meets Guillermo the guildmaster just before he emigrates to the Nexus, and they become good friends.
The monastic order of the Mountain Temple isolates completely from the Realm and successfully manages to stay under Oryx’s radar. Lead by Daichi the Fallen, they pledge loyalty to the demon lord Xil and engage in a cruel plan to summon him to the Realm.
Thanks to the success of the Cursed Library event, Oryx rewards Lord Ruthven by granting him the Manor of the Immortals, which soon gets populated by Ruthven’s acolytes. Ruthven would still become famous again for his most infamous and lethal creation, demise of so many heroes: “Lag”.
Oryx finds the Lair of Draconis, and infuses elemental sprites into the four dragon statues found there, hoping to challenge Limon’s control over the natural order. Happy with the results, he tried infusing a fifth one into a real, live dragon, which created the Ivory Wyvern. It breaks free from Oryx’s control and escapes displaying a tremendous amount of power.
Due to his delusions and consumed by darkness, The Forgotten King inadvertently summons The Void. It is unknown if he just surrenders to evil or is just mind-controlled by it.
The few sane guards of the Shattered Kingdom make a deal with Jon Bilgewater, to escort their Queen from the Deadwater Docks to the mainland.
The Shattered city-state crumbles and is consumed by darkness, alongside most of its inhabitants. A sea of Corruption engulfs and surrounds the ruins. The King himself survives, but is trapped inside his castle.
Oryx threatens the Bee folk and their leader, the Queen Bee, into transforming their colony from a simple hive to a honey factory, so he can increase his mead production.
Dreadstump and his crew are found drinking Oryx’s “taxes”. He had converted all of his once-competent crew into drunken idiots, and replaced the rest with all kinds of homeless people he just found out there. He’s immediately demoted and he runs away, escaping to an old pirate hideout.
Hordes of wild, rebellious pirates roam the sea under Davy Jones, who defies Oryx’s rule (and his tax on alcohol). They have a naval fight, which poses a problem to Oryx who has no naval resources anymore. Oryx then approaches Thessal the Mermaid Goddess with a deal for protection in exchange for her services. They combine their magic to create the Hermit God, and alongside the Royal Cnidarian’s forces, this re-establishes Oryx’s almost-absolute control of the sea and sinks Davy Jones’ fleet.
Gemsbok, a political rival of a foreign empire, sees an opportunity and intentionally betrays his own people to join Oryx, trying to fill the gap left by Dreadstump. Impressed by his ruthlessness, Oryx appoints him as the new treasurer. His cunning and non-alcohol-based economic policies would destroy any form of socioeconomic structure left in the Realm, definitely establishing the new era of Oryx’s reign.
The former Queen of the Shattered Kingdom travelled with her steed through the Realm, but is captured by Oryx as she ventures inland. He puts her in a crystal prison, just in case she would be useful later as a political prisoner. However, albeit slowly, the Void corruption which was already within her consumes her mind even as she is trapped inside her pristine prison.
Oryx builds his Castle, his Court (including the Stone Guardians and Janus the Doorwarden). The first thing he demands is to add a Wine Cellar in the underground to store all his alcohol and drink it in there with his most loyal minions. He also sets up a spell so powerful that it would immediately teleport heroes to his Castle so he doesn’t have to get out and hunt them through the seashore of the Realm as usual.
The Puppet Master throws a show so impressive that Oryx immediately appoints him as the Court’s jester, giving him a Theatre and even granting him permission to use soul-infusing magics in his puppets.
Steamhammer the dwarf creates Steamhammer’s Mining Co. which ventures into the Realm from exile to make prospective and ludicrous excavations.
The undead dwarves of the highlands create an icy titan to bring a permanent winter to the Realm. This causes damage to Oryx’s Castle, so he just destroys and dismantles the titan into minor entities that now roam the highlands.

The White Titan Disaster

Malus the Necromancer and other occultists who follow the mysterious Azamoth are called by the Paladins, and together they devise an extremely ambitions plan to destroy Oryx. It would be called the White Titan project and would use the pure souls of willing volunteers to infuse life into an unimaginably powerful titan, capable of fighting Oryx.
Experiments start on the White Titan project, using rudimentary soul infusion techniques. Many failed experiments remain from a period of long experimentation.
An entire Guild of heroes disappears suddenly, headquarters included, leaving no clue of their whereabouts.
The White Titan project is not progressing well. Malus gets desperate and resorts to using unwilling prisoners for creating many types of sentinel golems, often through unimaginably painful rituals of unspoken cruelty. This is kept a secret from the Paladins.
Steamhammer’s Mining Co. starts digging his latest, most ambitious project. They bring tools and hordes of the most skilled dwarves start digging. They soon find the Mushroom tribe, but they befriend them and continue their excavations.
Oryx tries to manipulate Cubes, the most fundamental indivisible unit of reality, into Cube titans. He fails miserably, and just leaves behind hordes of sentient cubic entities. The workshop dimension used for his rituals, the Third Dimension, is left abandoned and guarded by Oryx’s only partial success, the summoned Tesseract Goddess.
The White Titan project is finished and the Marble Colossus is ready. Upon activation, The Void takes control of the entity. The occultist group escape beneath the facility. The holy paladins escape, mostly unscathed. Two of the lead researchers die in the process.
Malus finds the determination to seal the entity within the facility and stop it from devastating the Realm, as he considers it a danger even greater than Oryx himself.
Oryx catches a single hero mystic trying to sneak into his castle and place a curse. As punishment, he slays her with her own curse and creates the Skull Shrine around her skull.
The old chambers of the clergy and the holy Paladins, now left to rot, become occupied by snakes. Stheno the Snake Queen secludes herself here, only stepping out at Oryx’s request as his general.

The Bizarre Years

Dr. Terrible appears suddenly from another Realm, bringing with him an entire laboratory which contains very advanced technology. Fascinated with the Realm, he forms a deal with Oryx in order to get help for his research, in exchange for his technology.
The Forgotten King, from deep inside his trapped castle, uses magic to project a spiritual manifestation of himself into the Realm.
Strange parasite are discovered in the Realm. A bit later, chambers filled with these abominations would be discovered too, with the bodies of infested heroes inside them.
Dr. Terrible accidentally creates Belladonna, spilling a substance that makes her both sentient and powerful. She escapes the lab.
Dr. Terrible immediately starts experimenting again and quite a few failed experiments, like the Horrific Creation, are born at this time.
Bonegrind is appointed as Oryx’s head chef. He’s quite proud as he thinks he’s met everyone in the Realm at least once.
A traitorous hero helps Oryx launch a surprise attack on the Nexus, the only safe haven for heroes. Many lives were lost back then trying to push back the Mad God, and the echoes of the battle still remain in the Nexus’ memories.
The dwarves of Steamhammer’s Mining Co. find a mysterious chamber, deep down in the excavation site. It is full of the most valuable crystals they have ever seen. But when they try mining them, they are suddenly attacked by the previously friendly Mushroom tribe. The dwarves have to escape amidst chaos, leaving behind Steamhammer’s most valuable tools and riches. Not all could escape, and one of the most talented diggers is brought to the Crystal Entity itself, who surprisingly sealed a deal with him. He would be known as The Keyper from then on.
The Puppet Master dies, and then bargains with a shadowy figure to reincarnate him (with stronger power) in exchange for allowing his creations to be put to new purposes.
Hero archaeologists discover what seems to be the entrance to the Lost Halls. A huge commotion wakes up both heroes in the Nexus and Oryx’s forces, as they send brigades with the intentions of exploring the place.
Around this time, Gulpord manifests in the sewers under the Realm, acquiring consciousness due to the huge accumulation of magic never cleaned up, creating the Toxic Sewers.
Dr. Terrible is tasked with fortifying the Hives due to them being constantly pillaged by heroes. Dr. Terrible then creates the Killer Bee Queen while experimenting with the highly unstable Corruption. The experiment is a failure and the creature is possessed by The Void’s influence. She escapes and forms a colony of her own with the help of her guardians, the Beehemoths. Even then, the Doctor continues meddling with their affairs and feeding them Corruption and Ambrosia, but this makes them so hostile that even he had trouble keeping them at bay, leaving him no other option than to escape from their Nest.
Craig is appointed as the intern of the Mad God. He deals with Mad God stuff and the general bureaucracy of the alcohol-based, decadent, despotic and uninterested governance everyone’s used to. He’s a good guy, though quite naive to his Master’s schemes and the whole situation overall.
From the Nexus, magic-wielders prepare a curse for Oryx which can transform him into a chicken. It can only be thrown once a year, but it definitely has an impact on the Mad God’s old trauma.
Dr. Terrible creates F.E.R.A.L. as per Oryx’s own request. He also transforms a person with an unknown past into the Master Rat, who then escapes into the Toxic Sewers.
Commander Calbrik tries to invade the Realm with the intention of establishing it as a galactic outpost, but somehow he doesn’t fulfill his plans completely. The heroes play a big role in defending the Realm.

Contemporary Period

Oryx builds his Sanctuary, both in celebration of himself and due to the need of a new place to scheme with his dark allies. In here, Oryx practices until perfecting the corruption of the Exalted status, a new form only intended for heroes that he took for himself.
Quite soon, the heroes discover how to transcend into the legendary Exalted form. Only a few of them achieve it at great cost, but little by little, they grow in number, and with it the Nexus’ hope.
The Blacksmith opens a portal arriving to the Nexus. She decides to take part in favor of the heroes of the Nexus, however she lacks all her papers, probably scattered through the Realms and who knows what dimensions.
Craig spills a bottle of Oryx’s most precious wine over the Sanctuary Statues, causing them to occasionally malfunction. Oryx is still oblivious to this, for now.
The Blacksmith reveals more, forgotten recipes of old times by using the Void-related Nil material, which would help the heroes in their battles.